No such thing as premature campaigning
By Al S. Mendoza
ALL six presidential candidates are campaigning right now.
Leni Robredo, Ping Lacson, Isko Moreno, Manny Pacquiao, Bongbong Marcos and Bong Go have been visiting vote-rich places all over the country.
Their mission?
To woo voters to their side, of course.
But are they allowed to do that?
Yes, they are.
For they are not guilty of premature campaigning as alleged by pseudo geniuses.
In the first place, there is no such thing as premature campaigning in the strictest sense of the phrase.
Even as many insist that premature campaigning is happening right now, that position has no leg to stand on.
What the six are really doing is just plain campaigning. Period.
No law prohibits that—for now.
The law allows them that luxury as decreed itself by the Supreme Court many, many years ago.
Funny, but in the same SC ruling, campaigning should only begin in February for candidates running for national positions.
And for those running for local positions, campaigning starts in March.
So, what are the six presidential hopefuls doing right now?
Not campaigning but merely asking the Filipino voters to vote for them.
What’s the difference?
Nothing. As my dear friend, the Los Angeles-based Leonie Galvez, succinctly puts it: The difference is the same.
Pacquiao even goes a step further: Doling out cash no lower than one thousand pesos each to most of those attending his provincial sorties.
He tosses away oodles of cash that easily.
That is also allowed, says the Commission on Elections (Comelec).
Again, no law prohibits that.
How weird can we be in the eyes of the world watching us stage our presidential derby once every six years.
Pacquiao is never guilty of vote buying as the election period hasn’t officially begun.
Only in the Philippines.
But if Pacquiao distributes money starting February 8, 2022, the first day of the campaign period, that’d be foul. Illegal.
He could be charged with vote-buying, an election offense that could get him disqualified.
Like the rest of his rivals, Pacquiao is also prohibited from distributing goodies of any kind to the people during the official campaign period from February 8, 2022 to May 7, 2022.
For locally elected positions, campaigning is from March 25, 2022 to May 7, 2022.
Like the national candidates, those running for local positions are also barred from buying/selling votes and distributing any form of merchandise to both voters and their supporters during the campaign period.
But campaigning is not allowed on Maundy Thursday and Good Friday set on April 14-15, 2022.
Can you believe that?
I seem not to know what to believe already.
If giving money to voters is allowed now but not in the declared dates of the campaign period, what would be the most appropriate description for this thingamajig?
Circus at its best.
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